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At 37, Shelly Abad Cruz discovered she was pregnant — and had cancer

Author of the article:

Beth Audet

Publishing date:

April 20, 2018 • 5 minute read

Shelly Abad Cruz is a 37-year-old immigrant from the Philippines who came to Canada three years ago. She's a post-doctoral researcher at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, specializing in the neural degeneration of the brain. Cruz was diagnosed with Cancer in March, just months after discovering she was unexpectedly pregnant with her first child./ Postmedia

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When Cruz was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in March, however, the couple was shocked into silence.

Doctors immediately suggested surgery in April to remove her right breast and a lymph node under her right arm. She has also agreed to chemotherapy and radiation for an incurable tumour in her spine, but only after her baby is scheduled to be born in May.

Cruz had an urgent mastectomy last week at 34 weeks pregnant.

She said the promise of motherhood is the one thing that’s keeping her hopeful.

“I think that’s the only thing that’s making me happy, more optimistic, looking forward to seeing my baby,” she said.

Her husband of 14 years said he was trying to “be strong for the family” and “take it one day at a time.”

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Cruz immigrated to Ottawa from the Philippines in 2014, and her husband joined her six months later. She’s a post-doctoral researcher at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, specializing in the neural degeneration of the brain.

Cruz is known in her lab for being completely dedicated to her research. So dedicated, in fact, it took weeks of urging from her lab mates for Cruz to finally take a pregnancy test.

It became a lunchtime joke, said Cruz. Her colleagues would tell her she was obviously pregnant and she would insist she was just getting fat.

In November, Cruz conceded, got tested and discovered she was already 14 weeks pregnant. But she and her husband had to put their excitement on pause a month later when she felt a lump on her right breast.

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What felt like a small, hard ball on the outside appeared as a huge mass on her ultrasound, which she had in March. “I looked at the monitor and said, ‘Oh my God, it’s cancer.'” Cruz said she was “so, so scared.”

Initial testing showed the cancer in her right breast had spread to a lymph node under her right arm. An MRI later revealed a tumour had spread to T6, a bone in her thoracic spine.

Despite her circumstances, she said she feels lucky. “I have so much support, prayer support, financial support … I’m so thankful,” she said, adding that messages poured in from friends offering their prayers.

Her co-workers supported her with their research skills. “We’re having a joke in the lab, saying, ‘Oh, now we are a cancer research lab’,” she said with a laugh.

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Zhaohong “Tina” Qin, 48, a research associate at the institute, said Cruz is an “amazing woman” who is “very dedicated to the work.”

She said Cruz was so calm when she told them about her cancer that Qin didn’t believe her. “I thought she was joking.”

Hsiao-Huei Chen, a senior scientist and associate professor at the institute, said she and some of the other lab members pulled money together to buy an earlier flight for Cruz’s mother, Relia, to visit.

Her 65-year-old mother had purchased a flight to correspond with her daughter’s original due date: May 19. The surgery changed everything.

Relia, who arrived in Ottawa on April 10, said she was “crying every day” when she learned of her daughter’s cancer. She lost two kilos in two weeks because of the stress. She said she is glad to be here for her daughter, supporting her emotionally and helping around the house so she can rest.

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Shelly Abad Cruz and her husband of 14 years, Archie Duldulao, on St. Laurent Boulevard on Thursday, April 12, 2018, the day before Cruz underwent a mastectomy in her right breast. /OTTwp

Ellen Warner, medical oncologist and head of the PYNK breast cancer program for young women at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, said it takes a collaboration of specialists to navigate cancer treatment with a pregnant woman.

There are two lives to consider, so however you’re controlling the disease, “you want to be able to do that without harming the baby,” said Warner.

“This is where multi-disciplinary care is really, really important.”

Indeed, Cruz has met with two obstetrician-gynecologists, a surgeon, a medical oncologist, a radiation oncologist and an anesthesiologist — all of whom communicate with each other about her case.

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“I’m very confident I have a good team,” said Cruz.

Ian Ozard, head of anesthesiology at the Queensway Carleton Hospital, said that operating on a woman who is 34 weeks pregnant is a complicated but usually safe procedure.

The biggest risk, said Ozard, would be triggering early labour. This is why doctors wait until the third trimester, so the baby is developed enough to survive outside of the mother.

Ozard said pregnant women also receive a different ratio or mixture of the anesthetic to match their specific needs. The woman and her baby are monitored as two patients during surgery, and adjustments are actively made to keep them both stable.

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Cruz went in for surgery three days after her mother arrived. It was successful. She said this week she was already weaning herself off her pain medication and walking around to promote circulation.

Now that surgery is over, Cruz said she’s excited to meet her baby. “I just want to make sure that my baby doesn’t come out sooner than expected,” she said, adding that she can’t lift more than a few pounds with her right arm for two weeks.

Doctors plan to induce Cruz on May 7, if she hasn’t already gone into labour by then. Chemotherapy and radiation would follow after the birth. The treatment will aim to successfully shrink the tumour in her spine and increase her life expectancy.

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When asked how a new mother could care for a newborn while undergoing chemotherapy, Warren was unconcerned.

“It depends a lot on the person,” she said, adding that active people with positive attitudes experience less fatigue and generally cope better. She said she has some patients who continue full-time work during treatment.

Cruz set up a Go Fund Me page in March to alleviate the financial stress of her rising medical bills, since she and her husband don’t have benefits.

As of Thursday afternoon, the page had raised $10,825.

The couple plans to name their baby boy Jonathan. Cruz said she will call him Nathan for short.

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